Report: Hidden student fees diverted to athletics

USA Today produced an interesting and important package today on how student fees boost college sports amid rising budgets. One of the key points: Many colleges do not itemize where those student fees go for those who pay the tuition bills.

The report found that students were charged more than $795 million at 222 Division I public schools in 2008-09. Adjusting for inflation, that's an 18 percent jump since 2005.

At most schools, mandatory fees are tacked on to tuition. These fees can go toward a variety of areas at a school, such as student health care and computers. But USA Today found that the largest portion often goes toward running athletics departments in exchange for free or reduced admission to sporting events.

The problem: Not every student wants to attend games, and when demand exceeds available student seating, some studets get shut out of games. Not to mention, the cost of tuition continues to rise, as do these fees.

Fifteen schools confirmed to USA Today that they do not disclose their per-student athletics fees charge on their billing statements, web sites or other official school publications. At least six schools -- all in Virginia -- charged students more than $1,000 as an athletics fee in 2008-09. That ranged from 10 percent to more than 23 percent of the total tuiton and mandatory-fee charges for in-state students. That's money that a student could use for loan payments after college.

The report includes the percentage of tuition that goes to athletics by school in 2010-11. Auburn is at 2.4 percent. South Alabama is at 6.9 perent. USA Today reports that Alabama and UAB provide a portion of its fee collections to the athletics department, but according to the schools, they do not have a specific, per-student allocation for that purpose. Troy is not listed.

So what do you think? Do you want more transparency from schools on where student fees go and what they're charging? If you're a student or a parent of a student, would you like the option to avoid paying a student fee in return for not getting free tickets or reduced admission to games? What's a reasonable amount you're willing to pay for a student fee?